The First Martyrs Show.

Well, this past weekend, the Belmont Burlesque Revue had it's first performance in a space OTHER THAN The Playground. This is a very good thing. We've been selling out consistently enough that there was a definite feeling that we could pack a larger venue, if given the opportunity. The shows producers were pretty much aware of that, but there are some very smart reasons to stay at The Playground. So, while there was an urge to try a larger house, there was never really a drive to find a permanent, larger playing space for the show.

















Along came this Martyrs gig.

Martyrs is a rock and roll venue down on Lincoln, just South of Irving Park. I've walked past it a million times, but never been inside. From what I understand, they've had some pretty big names perform there, before. I don't know if our producer contacted them or if they contacted us, but the long and short of it was, we had a performance set there, for this past Saturday night.

And it was to be a big, BIG show, too. A Canadian burlesque troupe from Ontario, The Steeltown Sirens, was coming down to perform with us. We billed the show as Beauties Across Borders, Canadian Burlesque Meets American Burlesque! Also, Two Troupes for the Price of One. (The $10 price tag was very, very smart.)


Martyrs Before Dark.


Martyrs After Dark.

The Pre-Show.

I got to the theater around 6pm and Mark and Mrs. Green were already there. We'd schedule 6 - 8pm to be our lights and sound rehearsal. Those guys set up the official BBR concession stand. One of the items that they offered for the first time, was a set of nicely produced, glossy photos of the individual cast members. For a few smackers, you could buy these lovely, lovely photos of the girls (and I am not exaggerating here, the girls are heart-breakingly lovely in these photos. Hendo and I are in the classic "Road to Bali" pose.) and for a few smackers more, you can get us to sign the pictures for you, too. And so it was that after the show was all over, I signed my first autograph to somebody, since college. (Where that actually happened quite a bit.)

I can't post copies of those pics of the girls on this blog, because A.) then people would get them for free, instead of paying for them and B.) the girls don't want their faces and lovely naked bits floating around on the Internets and C.) I don't have copies of the pics anyways. But THIS is the "Road To Bali" picture that I mentioned earlier. And it's one of my favorite pics of Me and Hendo. Looking at this pic, you can see why I love doing this show.



I am, of course, referring to the subtle, erotic pleasure of being pressed My-Crotch-To-Hendo's-Ass.

After the "gifts Boutique" was set up, we took the stage for a little bit of lights and sound warming up. Ms.Green got to practice with her fans for a bit.



This next pic is Officially Titled "Thanks, MARK!" Because that's what Ms.Green actually said, after Hendo wandered past her, while she was getting her picture taken. Sometimes, he's like a little kid, that way. (And if you look at his face, he almost looks to me like he KNEW exactly what he was doing. He can be a little bit of a devil that way.)



Of course, Hendo warmed up a bit, too. And let me go on record here and say that Hendo has some pipes on him. I actually listened to him sing a bit, at this show, and I am really impressed by the time and effort that he puts into his songs. I give that guy a lot of shit, but he can work his way around a Sinatra standad like it's nobodies business. It ain't parody people. He's giving you the real thing.

Anyways, here's some pics of Jack Midnight warming up.







After Hendo warmed up, he handed the mic over to D. from the Sirens to do her warm-ups. Her boyfriend, Lee, backed her up on one of her songs. D. has a voice on her, too. She covered "All That Jazz" during the show in this sexy, sort of gartered belted, lingerie outfit. And I remember thinking, "Hell, this would be entertaining, even if she WASN'T taking her clothes off." Which is meant to be a compliment. She was a very talented singer. (In fact, she still is, she's just singing up in Ontario. That's all.)



This is a perfect segue to talk a little bit about the Sirens, actually.

Due to some scheduling problems, our four Sirens dwindled down to two Sirens. But what this company lacked in number, they more than made up with, in talent. Both girls, D. and S. were very, very talented girls. They re-worked a four girl number to be a two girl Opening of Act Two number. And both girls brought two or three solos to the show, too. Later, I found out from Hendo that this was S.'s second show with the Sirens. Which is Incredible, if you think about it, her second show was in Another Country, in front of a packed house! Talk about being thrown into the fire!
I should mention that S.also had this very unique dance style that Hendo and I both noticed. She'd lower her eyes like she was a little bit ashamed of what she was doing and slowly slink back and forth, as clothes just sort of fell off of her. It was very enticing. There was a hint of...what...shame? Pride? Something. There was something going on there that was different than what our girls do. Our girls are very presentational. They say, "Hey fellas, check THIS hot shit out!" and S.'s stage presence was more like, "I am doing this sexy little striptease just for you, fella. But you can't tell anyone that I did this." It's not better than what our girls do, it's just different.
Of course, that could also have been nerves from this being such a big, second show. I dunno.

Offstage, these two girls were also a lot of fun, too. They frequently came down to the stage from the dressing room, during the pre-show, to smoke and grab a beer. And if I was standing around, doing nothing, one of them would slink up to me and press herself against me and purr a bit and then just wander off, leaving me a little bit turned on and a little bit scared. I played it off as a bit, but I was definitely knocked off of my game. Don't believe me? Check this out...



See?
I am "Little Boy" Scared in that pic.

I was also happy to have quite a few friends working the show too...


Greg Inda was onhand to be The Little Man In The Booth. (Which is, I think, his new stage name.)

I really like Greg. I'm really happy that he's agreed to work on our show. The more that I'm around him, the more I like him. He's got some great stories. And he's got a laugh that you can't help but join. And I just love his stories. Greg's also a SUPER talented photographer too. I'll have to get his permission to link you to his pics. I think you'll be impressed.

Speaking of impressive, here's where I mention that Amanda ran the "Gift Boutique". THAT is what i call, Two Effective Marketing Strategies. That's all that I'm going to say about that.


Also on hand, working the door for us, was my good friend, Matt Rossi. Matt's leaving soon to go to grad school at Columbia. I'm really going to miss that fucker. By happy circumstances, I got to see Matt three times in three days. It's going to be hard to let him leave.

Megaprops to Matty for coming, in costume, to work his gig, too. Hendo said, "Oh, he doesn't need to do that" after I mentioned that Matt was going to be spiffed up for the show. I think he looks great. Very period specific. And that's another case of someone working on this show, going the Extra Mile, to make this show succeed.

Walking right past Matt, at the front door, here's a view of what you'd see, walking into our pre-show audience.



I gotta tell you, we packed that joint!
And performing for a GIANT, rowdy, drunk, but actively engaged audience members was a whole different, crazy rush. At The Playground, our little audience is neatly packed into 5 long rows. There's a sense that they're spread out enough that Hendo and I could work our way through the house, if we needed to, slapping around exceptionally rowdy audience members.
This giant space full of people, with TWO bars backing them up is an altogether different creature entirely.
Here are a few pics of what our audience looked like.

(These pics are definitely a little dark, but I didn't want to go around flashing my camera at the audience, riling them up. So, the pics are a little dark.)







That's our audience. There to see us. Ready to be entertained. Also...DRUNK. And they weren't shy, either...

The Show.

How was the show?
Well. I could tell you. Long story short...it was hard, but ultimately rewarding. I'll write more in this section, when I get some of the pics that our photographer shot. Leave it to say that the girls were lovely, lovely, lovely. Hendo was funny. And I did what I normally do, albeit at a much lower volume, as I wasn't miked onstage. It was a good, good show. Most importantly of all, the audience had a good time and that's what matters.



Trust me. I'll tell more in a bit.

The AfterParty.
There are a few stories to tell here too. For example, I could tell you about...
Meeting someone with the same last name.
The Pretty Little Gal who hit on me after the show.
The Peculiar Rewards of Getting Paid for a show. (Don't ask how much! That's between me and my accountant!)
The Afterparty at Gannons Bar.
And the After-Afterparty at the Golden Angel.

With pics to accompany each little mini-story.

But it's late and I need to crash out. Let's call this entry, "A Work In Progress". Look for more to come, tomorrow.

Cheers,
Mr.B


PS. The owner of Martyrs loved us so much that he cornered our producers and got them to swear to bring the show back on July 7th. Which we've agreed to. So, if you missed the fun THIS TIME, you get a second chance at The Second Martyrs Show.